


Jack & Gabe's

by NotAWerewolf42



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Depressed Amélie, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gérard is a Cheater, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lena has Homophobic Parents, M/M, Mention of Suicide Attempt, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-04-07 23:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14092137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotAWerewolf42/pseuds/NotAWerewolf42
Summary: Jack & Gabe’s is a quaint café run by a pair of married ex-soldiers. Will love blossom in this cheesy AU? Will Sombra stop being tsundere? Will Lena stop being a hot gay mess? Why am I asking you all these questions? Read and find out!





	1. The Meeting

Jack & Gabe’s was a quaint café near a university campus in California, run by a pair of married ex-soldiers. Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes had purchased a two story home and converted the lower level into a café, as a way to earn income after their tours overseas. There was, of course, much competition so close to the university, but the pair found a steady income from a few regular patrons.

One such regular was one Olivia Colomar, or as she was known online, Sombra. The woman had lived in the area during her time at the university, and chose to continue living there even after she had hit success as a web developer. The woman was somewhat famous on the internet as a peerless programmer, but was almost unrecognizable offline, and enjoyed working in the relative peace of the local café, with it’s unlimited wifi.

Jack & Gabe’s was also where Jesse McCree found himself for most of his waking hours. After spending years at university to earn a degree that had so far, served no purpose, Jesse had been forced to find employment somewhere to pay back his monumental debts. He was an unofficial member of Jack and Gabe’s family, and the pair had offered him a job as soon as their café opened, and Jesse had taken it.

Lena Oxton was another employee of the café. English-born, the woman had met Jack during her time in the RAF, but had been honourably discharged after a training accident. After being tossed out by her homophobic parents, Lena had been down on her luck. That is, until Jack had offered to take her in, bring her to America and give her a job. She had lived with the man and his husband until she had managed to bring in enough income for her own small apartment.

Gabriel had come across Amélie not long after Lena had moved out of the pair’s apartment. The circumstances of their meeting had been morbid: Amélie had moved to America at the suggestion of her then-fiancé, Gérard. He had said that Amélie could better pursue her goal of becoming an actress than her home country of France. But after coming home from yet-another audition, she had found her lover in bed with another, and promptly made her way to the nearest bridge. Gabe had been taking a walk when he found the woman perched on the edge, and stayed by her side until the sun rose, before offering a roof and a job until she had things sorted out. That had been some months ago, and while she was still pursuing her dream job, she still worked at the little café.

McCree had been working late shifts for most of his career, the ones that others didn't want to take. But after ages trying to convince Jack to hire some fresh blood, the man had relented and found someone to take McCree’s late shifts: a young woman who had never held a job before by the name of Hana.

“Glad to finally see you in the daylight love!” came the chipper voice of Lena as she pulled on an apron for her shift.

“Me too, darlin’” Jesse replied, already dressed in his own. “Be glad to finally have some time to m’self for once.”

“I can’t believe you managed to convince Jack to hire someone!”

“I cannot believe he did not adopt her on the spot.” Amélie added, switching the sign in the window to ‘Open’. “After all, that is what those two seem to do with every one of their employees.”

The three are interrupted by a ringing, emanating from the bell at the door. A dark-skinned woman in an indigo hoodie entered. “ _ Hola _ .” Olivia spoke.

“Heya Oli!” Lena shouted, peeking her head out from below the counter where she had been stocking. “The usge?”

“What else?” Amélie deadpans, prompting a laugh from the regular. 

After a moment, Olivia notices the man standing behind the register. “Who’s this? New blood?” she asked.

“Well yes and no.” Jesse answered with a laugh. “I’ve actually been working here long as Lena, Jack just puts me on the late shifts.”

“I can’t believe you’ve never met Jesse!” Lena said with excitement. “I guess you always leave just before Jesse comes in.”

“I do have places to be beyond here.” Olivia said with a chuckle, approaching the counter as Lena began making the hispanic woman’s drink. It was then that she noticed Jesse’s choice of headwear. “A cowboy hat?” she said incredulously.

“What?”

“Who wears a cowboy hat at a café?”

“I do.” Jesse replied simply.

Olivia stood, mouth agape for a moment, unable to think of a reply. “You look like an idiot.”

“Aw, that ain’t very nice coming from a pretty lady like you.” Jesse pouted.

Olivia was taken aback by that, her face turning a hue redder. It was at that moment Lena announced that her drink was ready, and Olivia stared at Jesse a moment more before moving to the nearby counter to pick up her drink.

“‘Fraid you need to pay for the drink darlin’.” Jesse said as she passed back by the register. The woman turned around and put the exact amount of change on the counter before walking away.

“Vaquero estúpido.” Olivia mumbled as she left the counter, loud enough that Jesse could hear. Of course, no redneck like Jesse could speak spanish, or anything other than english for that matter. Right?

The day passed as they normally did at the café. Customers came and went, coffees were made, and Olivia kept to herself mostly, occasionally sharing a laugh with Lena, or an attempt to bring Amélie out of her shell. The woman avoided speaking another word to the man behind the counter, though her eyes did not spare Jesse the same courtesy. Olivia glared at the wannabe cowboy every few minutes, disdain written on her face. Jesse, meanwhile, didn’t notice most of Olivia’s scowling, too busy with the morning rush of customers. When he did meet her gaze, he gave the woman a grin and a wink, causing Olivia to flush and turn away back towards her computer.

She didn’t get much done that day.

When McCree retired to the back room for a break, Lena approached Olivia’s table with an unrepentant smirk on her face.

“Sooooooo…” the barista began.

“What?” Olivia replied distractedly, tearing her eyes away from where she had watched Jesse disappear into the back room.

“So you’ve barely looked away from Jesse since you came in this morning.”

“No I, I mean, yes! What does he think he is, some kind of modern cowboy?”

“Well, a little.” Lena concedes, shrugging. “But that is beside the point.”

“And the point is…?” Olivia inquired.

“That you have got a crush on our resident cowboy!”

Olivia sat silent a moment, blushing deeply. “And what part of my behaviour made you think that?” she asked with a mix of curiosity and indignation.

“Come on!” Lena said playfully. “Even I know ponytail-pulling when I see it!”

“Oh really?” Olivia replied. “Speaking of your romantic prowess, you asked out Amélie yet?”

Lena raised her finger and opened her mouth as if to speak, but stood with her mouth agape. “That’s not fair…” she quietly let out.

Olivia was glad to switch the subject. “Uh huh. You’ve had the hots for her since you first laid your little gay eyes on her.”

But before Lena could give a reply, the woman in question spoke up. “Lena, we have customers! Help me out here, amie!”

“Sure thing Ames!” Lena called back. “We are not done here. I’m gonna get you talking to Jesse if its the last thing I do!” she said to Olivia.

“Well I have places to be,  _ Rápida,  _ so  _ adiós _ !” the hispanic woman said, shoving her computer into her bag. With a ‘boop’ to Lena’s nose, she turned and strolled out the door before the barista could get another word out.

In truth, Sombra didn’t have much else to do that day, but she didn’t want to deal with the combined distraction of that cowboy wannabe and Lena insisting that she liked him.

Watching the doorway where Olivia had left, Lena stood for a few moments before the noise of customers behind her reminds her of her job, and she quickly makes her way back behind the counter.

“Lena, I need a large pumpkin spice latte with a shot of espresso!” Amélie repeated the order to the smaller woman, who began work on the drink. Olivia’s comments had reminded Lena of her lingering crush on the frenchwoman. Lena could not understand how anyone could not crush on her: Amélie had a hot accent, and despite her emotionless front, she could be hilarious when she wanted to be, not to mention a gorgeous body.

“I am too gay for this.” Lena thought, as she finished off the first drink and began work on the next.

That was, of course, the problem. As far as Lena knew, the taller woman was by all accounts straight. The only relationship she ever spoke about was Gérard, and Lena’s attempts to suss out the woman’s sexuallity had failed: Amélie apparently not understanding any of them.

She kept her fingernails short, although that could just be because it was easier to do this job. Her style wasn’t butch, though she could be an invisible femme. And when Lena had asked whether she preferred ‘tacos or hot dogs’, the woman had responded that “Those are very different dishes, why are you comparing them?”

“Come on Lena, you can daydream after these customers!” Amélie said, bringing Lena back into reality.

“Right, sorry Ames!”

“ _ Pas de problème, amie! _ ” And there was that lovely french language coming through. Lena nearly swooned on the spot.

“One day,” she thought. “One day I’ll ask her out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival-kenival
> 
> Vaquero estúpido(spanish) - Stupid cowboy  
> Rápida (spanish) - speedy  
> Adiós (spanish) - goodbye  
> Amie (french) - friend  
> Pas de problème (french) - no problem


	2. The Inspector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The inspector’s visiting Jack and Gabe’s! All should go well, except that the inspector is Lena’s ex! Plus, Olivia says the wrong thing to Amélie, making her close herself off.

“Alright team, we’ve got a big day today!” Jack began. He and Gabriel had gathered the entire morning team before the store opened. It wasn’t often that both owners were in the store to prep the morning team: usually Jack ran the morning shifts and Gabe the afternoon shifts. And while she hadn’t been officially promoted, Lena was usually the one in charge when both had to step out.

“Expecting extra business on a tuesday?” Jesse snarked.

“Hardly.” Gabe returned. “But we are expecting the health inspector. So we need everyone on their best. Right, mi corazón?”

“Right!” Jack replied with a smile, leaning over to press his lips to Gabriel’s cheek. Lena could be heard faintly hollering “Gay!” much to their exasperation.

“So, McCree, you’re on register, Oxton, drinks, Guillard, backup Oxton if she’s swamped, but otherwise just keep the storefront tidy.” Jack continued, using last names as he did only when things were serious, a leftover from his time in the army. “Gabe and I will be around, holler if there's trouble.”

The group continued to chatter until there was a knock on the front door. Seeing that it was time to open, Amélie went to unlock the door, and as Jesse and Lena went to their posts, Lena started arranging the coffee station to the way she prefered. Jack went for the staircase up to his and Gabe’s home, while Gabe stuck around with Jesse and Lena.

“Good morning.” Amélie stated flatly as she opened the door to the customer.

“Good day.” the woman at the door replied. Lena instantly froze up, her face contorting in fear. “Apologies for being here so early, but I have quite a few places to inspect today.”

Gabe heard the words from his position across the floor, and reappeared almost instantaneously beside Amélie. “You must be the inspector! I’m Gabriel, co-owner, miss…?”

The red haired woman laughed, and met Gabriel’s extended hand and shook it. “Bonner, but there’s no need to be so formal. Call me Emily!”

Lena needed no more confirmation of the woman’s identity, and quickly ducked out of sight underneath the counter. Jesse looked down at the woman beside him. “Lena? You…?” he began, before Emily, Gabe and Amélie approached the counter.

“...This is Jesse…” Gabe said as he directed the inspector’s attention to the man behind the counter, who gave her a brief ‘Howdy’ and a slight tip of his hat. “...And, where’s Lena?” Gabe continued. He looked left and right, before noticing the tip of Lena’s pointy hair from below. “What are you doing down there Lena?”

Lena knew that there was no escape at this point, and slowly rose from her position to stand up. She looked down at the floor as she spoke. “Hey Em.”

“Lena?” Emily returned, surprise in her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story.” Lena said, rubbing the back of her neck, and continuing to avoid the woman’s gaze.

The three onlookers watched with confusion. “I take it y’all know each other?” Jesse interrupted.

Lena and Emily turned to face the others. “Yeah, uh...” Lena began, trailing off and uncertain.

“We used to go out together.” Emily finished with confidence.

“Listen Em, I know things didn’t end...great between us,” Lena said, finally looking at Emily, who returned her gaze. “But don’t take it out on Jack and Gabe! This place means everything to them, just…” she defended, before being interrupted by Emily.

“Lena, I am a professional, and that was a long time ago. I would never let it affect my judgement. Besides,” Emily said placatingly. “It’s good to see you again!”

Lena smiled, some of the tension escaping her face. “Well, that’s good. And, uh, it’s good to see you too!”

A ringing at the door alerted the group to the traffic of morning customers coming in. “Well, I do have an inspection to perform, so if you’ll excuse me...” Emily finished, following as Gabe led the woman to the back room.

“Well, back again with the hat, eh _cabrón_?” came the teasing voice of Olivia.

“And hello to you too, pretty lady,” Jesse replied with a smile. Olivia’s face didn’t falter at the compliment: she had prepared herself to deal with the cowboy again.

“I’ll take…”

“Wait wait wait,” Jesse interrupted. “Let’s see if I can’t remember. It was a… cappuccino with six extra shots, yeah?”

Olivia had not prepared for the possibility of the man remembering her order, especially after only one day. Had she even told him the order? “Uh, yeah.”

“I never forget an order from a woman like you.”

Olivia’s face turned bright red, and she dumped money on the counter. “ _Idiota_.” she mumbled, grabbing the drink that Lena had finished and rushing to her regular seat.

* * *

 

After finishing off the orders of the morning rush, Amélie took to sweeping up the front of the store. The barista normally spent downtime in the store talking with Olivia, since the regular held some belief that the two were “friends”. But Olivia had not once attempted to get Amélie’s attention, and looking at to the woman, Amélie found out why: Olivia was too distracted glaring at Jesse.

Amélie watched as Olivia regularly kept her gaze on the cowboy, only to shake her head, return to her laptop for a while, before returning to glaring at Jesse. After a few cycles, Amélie wandered over to Olivia.

“So, you have a crush on Jesse?” she half-questioned, half-stated.

Olivia quickly turned, face red. “What are you, no, NO!” she flustered.

Amélie snickered. “Yes you do.”

“And how would you know?!” Olivia snapped.

Amélie gave a small smirk. “I’m French, I know about matters of the heart.”

Olivia thought back to Lena’s painfully obvious crush on the woman, one which Amélie appeared to be completely oblivious to. “I hardly think _you_ are the expert on love here.” she said with a smirk, still blushing.

Amélie’s smile vanished from her face instantly. “Yes, I suppose so,” she said stiffly, before turning from Olivia and quickly walking back to the counter.

Olivia’s smirk and blush fell away. “Wait, what did I…” she started quietly, before she was reminded of what Gabriel had told her about the woman’s past: Gérard, moving to America. Gabriel hadn’t told her specifically what Gérard had done to Amélie, but Olivia had guessed it might have done something to make her as closed off as she was. And Olivia had more-or-less just told Amélie that she didn’t understand love.

“No, Amélie wait, I didn’t mean…” she tried to say, but Amélie had already disappeared. Had she gone in the back, or upstairs?

“Shit.” Olivia quietly said to herself.

* * *

 

As Emily went about her job, checking around the counters and machines to ensure that the proper safety procedures were being observed, Jesse did what Jesse does best: shamelessly flirt.

Or at least, Jesse thinks that he flirts well.

“Hey, are you from Tennessee, cause you're the only 10 I see.” he drawled out, getting the attention of Emily.

“Wot?” she replied.

“Er how ‘bout this,” Jesse said, putting on the thickest accent he could pull. “Yer finer than frog hair split four ways.”

Emily raised an eyebrow and stared incredulously at the southern man. “Are...you trying to hit on me?”

“Figured I could get some brownie points for Jack and Gabe.” Jesse relented. “Use some of my,” he continued, gesturing to himself with his hands, “natural talent.”

At this, Emily snorted. “Really?” she asked.

Jesse lost no confidence however. “Really.”

“Well cowboy, like I told Lena, I am a professional. This is a strictly objective inspection,” she said, kneeling down to face the electrical outlets she had been inspecting, “no matter how many ‘brownie points’ you try to get.”

Jesse harrumphed, before quickly looking around the store in search of Lena. When he saw that she was out of ear-shot, in the back room talking to Amélie, he smirked. “Speaking of Lena,” he started, watching Emily stop her notetaking, “what’s the story between you two?”

Emily sighed, then stood again. “You really wanna know?” she asked, to which Jesse gave a nod.

“We met back when Lena was in the RAF. Here was this cute military gal, with just, nonstop energy and was a big ball of happiness. So I get to talkin’ with her, and one thing leads to another and we end up making out at the pub.”

“And then?”

“And then everything was good for a few months. We dated, and we were happy.”

“Let me guess. The parents?”

“Bingo,” Emily replied, pointing a finger at Jesse for emphasis. “Lena was too afraid to tell her parents about us, about her, about anything. I wanted to show off how much I loved her, but Lena insisted that we keep it secret, not just in front of her parents, but everywhere, just in case it ever got back to them that their daughter had been seen kissing a woman in town. Call it selfish, but it hurt me. So, I broke up with her.”

“Guessing by her reaction this mornin’, it hurt her pretty bad.” Jesse stated, watching as Emily looked to the floor.

“Yeah, it did. She kept telling me how much she loved me, but that she was afraid of the consequences. How we could run away together, find somewhere to live together away from her parents, but I told her I wasn’t going to do that, not so soon into a relationship. I loved her, but I wasn’t going to give up my life for her. And that’s pretty much where we left it.”

Jesse nodded his head. “You hear what happened to her after that?”

“Not really.”

“Well, and I probably shouldn’t be the one tellin’ you this, but she ended up getting tossed out by her folks. She was on the street a little while, until Jack,” he said, gesturing up towards the ceiling, “offered her a roof and a job. Then he sponsored her green card and now here we are.”

“Huh,” Emily said perplexed. “You travel halfway across the world, and run into someone you knew.”

“For what it’s worth, she seems pretty happy here. And her parents aren’t here to tell her who not to date.”

“Oh, we’re different people now, I’m not interested in picking up where we left off.” Emily replied, shaking a hand to indicate her disagreement.

“Oh I wasn’t suggesting that,” Jesse smirked. “You’d have some stiff competition if that were the case.”

“I hope you don’t mean you.” she snorted.

Jesse laughed. “Nah, Lena is more interested in tall, pretty and French over there!” he said, gesturing in the direction of the back room with a nod of his head.

Emily turned to look towards the back room. “Really?”

“Really.”

“And let me guess, she’s too afraid to make a move right?”

“Yup”

“Did the same thing with me. Waited until I made the move.”

“Well,” Jesse said with a laugh, “I doubt that’ll happen, Amélie is apparently oblivious.”

“You never know,” Emily responded, the beginnings of a smirk on her face. “Lena can be stubborn.”

* * *

 

While Jesse and Emily had their discussion, Lena had found Amélie in the back room, distraught. For most, it was impossible to tell from the taller woman’s expression her mood, but Lena had learned the secret was in the woman’s eyes.

“What’s wrong Am?” Lena said calmly. Amélie didn’t respond, instead focusing on keeping her cool, emotionless facade.

“Come on Amélie, you can talk to me about whatever’s bothering you.” Again, Amélie ignored Lena, continuing to sit perfectly still in one of the breakroom chairs.

Lena thought a moment, before leaving Amélie to pull a chair up beside her.

“Listen,” Lena began, “I don’t know what’s bothering you right now, but I want to try and help. I know how hard it can be to talk sometimes. I mean, took me years to tell anyone that I was gay.” Lena paused and closed her eyes. “But keeping your problems bottled up doesn’t help. All it does is make you hurt more.”

She opened her eyes, and saw that Amélie had met her gaze. “Maybe you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, but please, tell someone. Don’t let these things build up.”

Amélie finally responded. “It’s probably just an overreaction,” she said quietly.

Lena gently put her hands on Amélie’s shoulders, trying not to startle the woman. “Amélie, I can see tears in your eyes. Whatever it was, it clearly hurt you. So no, it’s not an overreaction“

Amélie’s facade broke a little, and she found herself leaning into the shorter woman, who let her rest her head on Lena’s shoulder. Lena gently rested her arms on Amélie’s back, and gently patted the woman.

The moment lasted only a second, before Amélie sat back up, though Lena noted that her eyes seemed calmer. Perhaps even happier. Lena gave a smile, and Amélie returned it with her own small smile. “Thank you _chérie_ ,” she said.

“No problem Ames.” Lena blushed, before hearing Gabriel tell Lena to get back to the front, and the chatter of customers coming through the door. “We can talk more later if you’re feeling up to it!” Lena said as she got up from her chair. Amélie gave a small nod, and Lena left to help out the front.

* * *

 

After a few hours of work, Emily’s inspection came to a conclusion, right around the time that the morning shift was ready to clock out.

“...In summary,” Emily concluded, “I see no reason to not give your restaurant a passing score.”

There was a cheer among the owners and workers, happy to know that their little café would survive. Jack and Gabe shared a short kiss, and Jesse threw an arm over Amélie’s shoulders, though the woman quickly shoved him off and gave the cowboy a look that would kill. Lena leapt in the air, before rushing over to give Emily a hug. “Thanks Em!” she said warmly, before quickly pulling back. “Sorry, erm, that was probably…”

Lena didn’t get another word out before she was interrupted by the inspector wrapping her arms around her. “Oh, give me a hug you goofball.” Lena returned the hug with a smile.

Once the two finished, Emily gave a look to Amélie. “You take care of her,” she said sternly. Amélie returned with a look of confusion, and Jesse laughed out loud. Lena simply blushed.

Emily left the store with a wave, the three baristas leaving shortly thereafter and parting ways.

“Hey, _azul_ ,” came the voice of Olivia, standing just outside the threshold. Amélie stared at her a moment, before the hispanic woman held out a small brown paper bag. Cautiously, Amélie took it and peered inside.

“I’m sorry for before, I didn’t mean what I said,” Olivia said placatingly, as Amélie found a few freshly-baked chocolate croissants.

“How French do you think I am?” Amélie asked, a small smile on her face as she pulled one of the treats out of the bag.

Olivia smiled back. “Extremely French.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this chapter was a bitch and a half to write. Struggled with a few of these scenes, so let me know in the comments if you liked it!  
> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival  
> Mi corazón (spanish) - my heart  
> Cabrón (spanish) - donkey, ass  
> Idiota (spanish) - idiot  
> Chérie (french) - daring  
> Azul (spanish) - blue


	3. Gossip Central

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even when she’s not at the café, Olivia can’t seem to escape the baristas, or Lena’s attempts to her together with Jesse. Meanwhile, Jesse and Amélie have an interesting discussion on love.

Olivia woke up at 7 o’clock on the dot. It was a habit she had built up after seeing so many fellow programmers spent endless nights working on projects, and she had vowed to not end up in the same boat.

This did not mean Olivia was happy to wake up so early in the morning, which was partially why she went to the café almost everyday to drink her disgusting concoction of caffeine.

Olivia grumbled as she rolled over in her bed and pulled her phone from it’s position atop the charger to read the time. Saturday morning. She groaned when she realized that she had woken up early on a day where she had no work to do.

“Well,” she thought to herself, “I guess I could go out and do some shopping.”

* * *

 

After forcing herself to get out of bed, and once she had gone through her daily routines and gotten ready to leave, Olivia hopped on the next bus to the nearby shopping mall. Olivia knew that she could probably afford a car if she really wanted to, but she didn’t mind public transportation. The bus wasn’t very full, although morning traffic made the trip a slow one.

Once she arrived at the mall, Olivia quickly made her way over to a makeup store. Olivia was not the type of woman to get caught without makeup, spending nearly 25 minutes a day applying it.

As she browsed through the different colours of lipstick, Olivia came across a dark reddish-purple colour that grabbed her attention.

“I wonder if that cowboy would like the look of this colour,” came a thought, unbidden from the back of her mind.

Olivia froze the minute she realized what she had just thought about. Why was she considering what Jesse would like? “That idiot, with his stupid hat,” she quietly mumbled to herself in spanish. “This is Lena and Amélie’s fault, thinking that I like him. Who do they think they are?”

Olivia walked away from the lipsticks in a huff, determined to put that unwanted thought behind her.

Although, it was a cute colour.

Turning around, she quickly snatched up a tube. “This is because I want this lipstick, no other reason,” she told herself.

After paying for the lipstick and a few other items, Olivia stepped out of the store. Directly into some mall-goer who wasn’t looking where they were going.

“Oh, sorry about that love!” the woman said, before her and Olivia recognized each other.

“Lena?” Olivia asked.

“Oli! Wasn’t expecting to find you here!” the Brit replied enthusiastically. “Figured you’d be over at the café this morning.”

“I do have a life outside of drinking coffee you know,” Olivia said with chuckle, “Care to join me? I was probably going to head over to the food court.”

“Sure!” Lena replied with a smile. She linked arms with the Hispanic woman and began to drag her eagerly through the mall.

* * *

 

If Olivia thought that she could escape Lena’s attempts to play matchmaker outside of the café, she was mistaken.

“So, that looks like a lot of makeup there OIi. Trying to impress someone?” Lena said, as the pair made there way towards the food court, arms still linked.

“Ugh,” Olivia moaned. “No. Do you see this?” she said while gesturing to her face, “I did this for no one but me. And definitely not Jesse, or any other man.”

“You go girl, but I didn’t even say who…”

“Aye, but you seem to have it in your crazy little head that I have a crush on him.”

“Hey, I am well versed in the art of love!” Lena said indignantly.

Olivia stopped suddenly, and Lena unlinked her arm to see why the woman had stopped walking. “You know, Amé said almost the same thing yesterday.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Then I thought about you,” Olivia said, giving Lena a friendly shove, “and how you are the most useless lesbian I know, and I thought, ‘No, I don’t think you are Amé’”

Olivia’s face fell. “I guess Amélie thought I meant something else though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what I said was that she wasn’t an expert on love, but I suppose she took it in a different way”

Lena thought a moment, before her face turned angry. “Wait, don’t you know what she’s been through?” she fumed.

“Yes Lena, but…”

“What the hell Olivia!” Lena yelled, “why would you say something like that to her!”

Olivia could see people watching Lena’s outburst, haughty distaste on their faces. “Hey, hey Lena. Listen to me, calm down, it was an accident and I apologized to Amélie. Just breathe  _ amiga _ .”

Lena began breathing deeply, as Olivia led the pair over to a nearby bench. Olivia was glad that it had been unoccupied.

“Lena, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you cared about Amélie that much.”

Lena continued to breathe, before she took a second to speak. “It just, when I saw her in the back room yesterday, she just looked so broken.” She paused, and took another deep breath. “And, I know what that feels like, and it hurts so much.”

Olivia didn’t speak, and waited for Lena to continue. “I… felt that same way for so long. So long. Hiding from my parents, trying to tell myself that I wasn’t a freak for liking girls. It, hurt. And I don’t want Amélie to… go through what I did. I don’t want anyone to.”

Lena sat for a moment, rubbing at her left arm. After a moment, she sighed, and Olivia watched as she rolled up her sleeve.

“ _ Dios mío _ …” Olivia said softly, beholding the multitude of faded scars lining up and down the younger woman’s arm. Each white line on Lena’s pale skin was a sharp reminder that the bubbly, cheerful woman she knew was not quite as she appeared, that she had gone through hell to get where she was today.

Olivia sat staring at the woman’s arm for a time, her mouth agape, before she grabbed Lena’s hand and stared straight into her eyes. “You are so strong  _ mi querida _ ,” she said softly. Lena gave her a weak smile, before it fell again.

“It just scares me. Gabe told me what happened when he found Amé on that bridge. He said that she was just, scared, and sad, and... “

“Lena,” Olivia interrupted. “We’re not going to let anything happen to her. She’s one of us.” She wiped a tear from Lena’s face, causing her to blink in shock: she had not realized that she was crying.

“One of us?” Lena said with a sniffle.

Olivia nodded. “One of the family. And that means we look out for each other, right?”

Lena smiled and nodded.

“Now, let’s see if there’s a ice cream place in this shitty mall, eh?”

Lena nodded again, and Olivia helped the woman back to her feet. It was then that Lena looked around with her still-wet eyes and saw the people giving the pair looks as they passed by. “Bugger, I guess I sorta went crazy in public, huh?”

“Lena, do you see all these people here?”

“Well, yeah…”

“Fuck ‘em”

And then Lena laughed all the way to the food court, and Olivia made a mental note to ensure that as long as she was around, Lena would never suffer like she had.

And Olivia made a plan to make her two broken friends happy together. It would just take the right push.

* * *

 

At the café, Jesse and Amélie were working an underwhelmingly lazy day, with very few customers coming in. So they had spent most of the time sitting around talking.

Jesse had introduced Amélie to a game he used to pass the time: people-watching.

“She tells everyone she’s gonna write a novel, but she’s really just reading fanfictions” Jesse said, nodding his head in the direction of a woman sitting at a table with a laptop. Amélie hummed in agreement.

“And I’ll bet ‘cha they’re runnin’ home to turn off the oven,“ Jesse directed at a person running past the window of the store.

“So this game is just an excuse to judge people?” Amélie said chidingly.

“So long as we keep it between us, I like to call it people watching.” Jesse said.

“Hmph,” Amélie huffed. She then turned to look over at a couple that had entered some time ago. They sat at one of the small tables in the café, giggling with each other. “What of those two then?” Amélie asked.

Jesse looked over at the couple in question. “Well I figure they’re in that early stage of the relationship where they think the other is just perfect, and everything is great, but they haven’t quite figured out that there’s things they don’t know about each other.”

The pair of baristas were quiet for a minute as they watched the couple, who were too interested in each other to notice. Jesse looked at Amélie, who looked deep in thought.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Jesse offered.

She stood a moment. “Gérard.” she said simply.

“Ah.” he said awkwardly.

“I think I had been so in love with him, with the idea of him, that I didn’t see the things I didn’t want to see.”

“That’s not uncommon.”

“Perhaps if I had payed more attention…”

“Hey now!” Jesse interrupted, moving into Amélie’s line of sight and putting his hands on her shoulders. “Now don’t be talkin’ like that. What he did to you was his fault alone.”

“Yes, and now I’m stuck working here, I’m not getting anywhere with my acting, and I wake up every night, hoping to find someone beside me.”

“Maybe it’s about time you get back in the dating scene then.”

“Yes, and what sane person would want the depressed French woman who works at a coffee shop?”

Jesse chuckled. “I can think of one.”

Amélie raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Jesse’s eyes widened when he realized he had let slip something he probably should not have. “Ah, yeah.”

“Jesse, you are very nice, but I don’t think you are quite my type.”

Jesse suddenly looked very concerned. “Nah, I don’t mean me!” he quickly responded, shaking his hands in disagreement.

“Then who?” Amélie inquired.

Jesse froze up, then sighed in resignation. “Alright, you didn’t hear it from me, but Lena’s got the hots for you like the sun beatin’ down on the Mojave on summer sunday.”

Amélie paused, her eyebrow rising again. “Really?”

“Heh, really.”

“Hmmm,” Amélie hummed. “I never noticed.”

“I don’t know how you didn’t,” Jesse laughed. “Girl’s as gay for you as Jack and Gabe on pride decked out in latex.”

Amélie visibly recoiled. “That was not an image I need to think about.”

“Nah,” Jesse agreed, “but it got the point across.”

“I suppose.” Amélie conceded. “I never really thought about Lena that way.”

“Aw, you’re gonna break her little heart like that.”

Amélie smirked. “That does not mean I cannot think of Lena that way.”

“Darn tootin’!” Jesse cheered. “At least give the girl a chance, won’t ‘cha?”

“Since you have told me about this, I will tell you that Olivia has an enormous crush on you.”

Jesse’s expression of cheer quickly turned to surprise and confusion.

“What in tarnation?”

* * *

 

When Olivia arrived at home after her shopping trip with Lena, she went directly to her computer set-up. This was not unusual: she was a web developer. But Olivia had a different goal than money in mind. She sat down and cracked her knuckles.

“Alright internet, we’ve got some work to do.”

This was no longer Olivia Colomar: Here, she was Sombra.

She knew that part of the reason Lena was so scared to ask out Amélie was because she didn’t know if she even swung that way. Olivia had been casually curious, but after Lena’s breakdown, she decided to break out her skills as Sombra, the so-called master of the internet, to find out. And the internet knew everything.

Sombra’s first plan had been to search through Amélie’s social media. Lena had probably already snooped through it, but perhaps she could find something that Lena hadn’t.

So Sombra had been extremely confused when she found nothing on Amélie. “ _ Que _ ?” she puzzled.

No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. Nothing.

She began to widen her search, looking for any sign of the woman online. Her face was serious, but internally, she was enjoying this: digging through data and looking for secrets, this is what she loved about computers.

As she continued her search, Olivia wondered why Amélie seemed to have no social media, no interactions online. Was she completely oblivious to it, did she not understand the internet? Or, Olivia thought, did she delete it all? After Gérard, did she try and get rid of everything, forget her past life. She pondered this over when Sombra stumbled upon an old forum.

It was old, and didn’t seem like it was even very popular back in it’s day. Just a place for a few wannabe actors and actresses to talk. And the account of one WidowMaker could be traced back to Amélie, through methods Sombra thought probably were illegal. But Sombra used whatever it took when it came to the hunt.

As she pondered over Amélie’s forum posts (Mostly talking about dancing and music) and her username (Had she come up with it before, or after Gérard?), Sombra’s eyes lit up. A devious smile crossed her face.

“Oh, this is gooood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regular release schedule? Never heard of her.  
> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival
> 
> Amiga (spanish) - friend  
> Dios mío (spanish) - my god  
> Mi querida (spanish) - my dear  
> Que (spanish) - what


	4. A Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 baristas and a tsundere coffee addict walk into a bar. Winston thinks romance is blooming, but maybe he’s just hopeless.

The next day that Olivia went to Jack & Gabe’s, Lena excitedly called out to her before she even reached the counter.

“Hey Oli!” she said enthusiastically, “We’re gonna go to the pub tonight, want in?”

“Who’s we?” Olivia asked with a smirk.

“I already messaged Jesse, and…” Lena replied, trailing off as a blush covered her face, “Amélie said she’d come too.”

“Let me guess, you wanted to ask her on a date but you chickened out and made it a group thing?”

Lena’s expression told the hacker her answer even before she softly gave an affirmative .

“Ay, cheer up girl! It’ll be fun, and your crush will still be there for you to be awkward around. Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drunk.”

Lena’s face quickly twisted into dread. “Wait, Amélie can’t see me drunk, I just get stupid! I didn’t think this through, I should…”

“Hey,” Olivia interrupted, “it’ll be fine, Lena; I’ll be there if things get out of hand. Besides, we’ll all be drinking. It’s a pub, that’s the fun part!”

Lena relaxed. “I guess so. So you’ll be there?”

Olivia gave her a genuine smile. “Yes. Just tell me where and when.”

Lena returned her smile. “Winston’s, it’s a couple streets up from here. At 8.”

* * *

 

When Olivia arrived a few hours later, Lena was waiting outside the pub. Olivia hadn’t been sure what to wear, so she had settled on a casual outfit, with skinny jeans and a graphic tee of an old band she had been a fan of called Talon. She was happy to find that Lena had also worn a similarly casual outfit, with bright leggings and her bomber jacket worn over a simple white shirt.

Once Lena noticed Olivia, she happily waved her over. “Hey love!”

“ _ Hola _ .” she replied. “Nice place. Waiting on the others?”

“We can go in now that you’re here. I just didn’t want to go in alone.” Lena said as she opened the door and gestured Olivia in.

“Why’s that?” Olivia asked, before a booming voice came from within.

“Lena Oxton!” Olivia looked inside to see a huge man behind the counter. He was tall, burly, and covered in hair. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he stalked out from behind the counter, his eyebrows furled.

“Winston, I…”

“You missed the last meeting, and I don’t even get a text explaining yourself, and you just turn up here? Like it’s nothing?”

“I’m sorry Winston, I was busy…”

“That’s no excuse.” Winston said with authority. Standing at his full height, he towered over Lena, who was looking up at him apologetically. Olivia watched the staredown, afraid of what might happen next.

Winston suddenly smiled and grabbed the small woman by her waist, lifting her up and wrapping his arms around her. “It’s good to see you Lena. I was worried.”

Lena returned the hug and smiled. “I missed you too, big guy.” The hug continued for a few more moments before Winston set Lena down. “I got an extra shift at work and I totally forgot to text, I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you’re alright,” Winston said warmly, before turning to face Olivia, who was completely confused by the whole situation. “And who’s this lucky lady? Got yourself a new girlfriend Lena?”

Olivia laughed, and spoke before Lena had a chance to defend herself. “I’m Olivia. Pleasure to meet you. And Lena and I are in love.” 

“Well, congratulations are in order!” Winston said proudly. “When did you two meet?”

Olivia burst into laughter as Lena desperately struggled to tell her best friend that her and Olivia were not in fact, lovers, just good friends. It took a few minutes, but eventually Winston understood, and the two sat at the bar as Winston returned to his post behind it.

“I can’t believe you would do that.” Lena said, taking no time to take a swig of the beer placed in front of her to cover her embarrassment.

“I can’t believe your friend believed me.” Olivia chuckled. “I like him.”

“Yeah, Winston can be a bit…” Lena paused to think of the right word. “Literal. But he’s a great friend.  When I first moved here he showed me around, and this place is a good reminder of home.”

“He English too?” Olivia asked confused, looking around at the English-style pub, complete with a football match on the television.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I tried asking once, and I never got a straight answer out of him. Said he was from the moon or some nonsense.”

“Who’s from the moon now?”

Lena and Olivia turned around to find Jesse standing behind them. He was wearing a button down beige top and black dress pants. Olivia chuckled under her breath at how he was overly dressed up. Of course, he was still wearing that signature hat.

“Jesse!” Lena cheered, and jumped up from her seat to give the man a hug. “Glad you made it!”

“Nice place here. So what’s this about a moonman or something?”

“Oh, just my pal Winston,” Lena dismissed, pointing a thumb towards the man in question, “never got a good answer on where he was from.” Jesse looked over, and tipped his hat when Winston gave him a smile.

“Another friend of yours?” Winston asked when he wandered over to the group.

“Jesse McCree, at your service.”

“The man who thought he was a cowboy,” Olivia snickered. “Let me guess, Whiskey on the rocks?”

“‘Sat mean you’re offering to buy me a drink?” Jesse teased.

“In your dreams  _ flirteador _ ,” Olivia huffed. “Anyways, what was Winston here saying about a meeting? You on a softball team or something?”

“Oh, Winston runs an LGBTQ group in town. You know, sit in a circle, talk about bein’ gay, the usge,” Lena described.

“Really,” Jesse inquired, to which Winston gave a nod. “Then you can make me the gayest cocktail you know.”

Olivia was taken back by this request. “Oh, you’re gay?” she asked. Why was she even asking that? Why did she sound so disappointed? Olivia hated what that last question implied for her.

“Well, strictly-speakin’, no,” Jesse replied, “I guess I’d say I’m pan. Don’t really care what folk call ‘emselves, s’long as they’re decent ‘bout it.”

Olivia was angry at the relief she suddenly felt. “Oh, okay.” She didn’t miss the smirk on Lena’s face. Clearly Lena was looking for an opportunity to analyze Olivia’s response, but Olivia had quickly noticed something at the entrance to the bar, and smirked. “I don’t think we want to go there, do we Lena?” she hinted, as she nodded her head towards the front door of the pub.

Lena turned to look, and the smirk on her face dropped, as she gaped at Amélie. She stood in the threshold of the pub wearing a striking black dress, with a deep v trailing tantalizingly by her cleavage  and a slit up her right leg to her thigh. Her long dark hair was let out of its normal ponytail and spilled charmingly over her shoulders in waves.

Lena continued to gape as Amélie approached the bar. “It seems I am overdressed,” Amélie deadpanned.

“Ay, you look great  _ azul _ , don’t you agree Lena?” Olivia said while prodding the smaller woman with her elbow. It seemed enough to wake Lena from her stupor.

“Yes, good, you look good,” she managed.

“Come on Amé, get yourself a drink and let’s get a booth.” Olivia chuckled, trying not to openly laugh at how uselessly gay her friend was.

“Excuse me,” Amélie directed to Winston, “may I see the wine list?”

“Ohohoh, this is gonna be a fun night.” Olivia thought to herself.

* * *

 

“So Amé, what’s with the dress?” Olivia asked as she took her seat at the booth, short glass of tequila in hand. “Not that we’re complaining, eh Lena?”

Lena could barely keep her eyes off Amélie, as the taller woman took the seat next to her.

“I suppose I…” Amélie started, placing the empty wine glass and full bottle of cabernet sauvignon on the table. “...misinterpreted, Lena’s invitation.”

“Oh?” Lena said, quietly and curiously.

“I thought we would be going to a, higher-quality, location.”

“Well, Lena’s friend behind the bar can make this,” Jesse said from his seat next to Olivia, gesturing towards the bright pink and frilly drink he had received, “so I’d say it’s a nice place.”

“Aye, or you could drink something normal.” Olivia replied, marking her words with a sip of her tequila.

“Aww, have a little fun, darlin’.”

“You two are cute.” Lena said sweetly. Olivia and Jesse each looked to the small woman, who was already starting to act tipsy.

“Naw, you’re the cute one Lena. Barely one drink and you’re already as drunk as Cooter Brown.” Jesse snickered.

Lena pouted as she sunk into the booths cushioned seats, finishing off her glass of beer. “You can’t distract me, you two are cute, with your arguin’.”

“Yes, arguing,” Olivia said sarcastically, “the cornerstone of happiness. Why don’t I grab you a new glass?”

Lena agreed, and Olivia grabbed her glass as she smiled at how easy it was to distract Lena.

“Hey, Winston.” she addressed to the barkeep, who wandered over from where he had been cleaning glasses. “A round for me and and the mop of brown hair back there,” she added as she pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the table.

“Sure thing.” Winston acknowledged with a nod, taking the empty glasses from Olivia’s hands. “So, you’re not, with Lena?” he asked.

“No, I’m really not. Besides, Lena’s got her eyes on someone else. Surprised she’s never mentioned her.” Olivia responded as she leaned back on the bar, watching the table.

“She had mentioned someone, though I didn’t get much of a description, just ‘beautiful’ and ‘with a pretty accent’.”

Olivia laughed. “Sounds like Lena.”

“So then, is this like a double-date thing? You and the guy in the cowboy hat?”

Olivia’s face turned red. “No, no it’s not.” she sputtered. She managed a thanks as Winston placed the refilled glasses on the bartop, before grabbing the pair of drinks and rushing back to the table.

“Oli!” Lena cheered, “Jesse was just about to tell us about the first time he got blackout drunk.”

“This I gotta hear,” Olivia responded as she passed Lena’s drink over.

“Well, I don’t quite recall how I ended up there, but I was’at this party at a mansion. Turns out the owner is the guy who made that website, Neopets?...”

* * *

 

Several drinks later, the group of baristas (and one coffee addict) were thoroughly inebriated.

Lena was giggling like a schoolgirl, which was extremely entertaining for the much more sober Amélie.

Jesse had gotten significantly flirtier after a few of Winston’s cocktails, and Olivia was too distracted having fun with the group to poke fun at the cowboy’s attempts at flirtation.

“So then I said, leaf me alone, I’m bushed!” Lena joked, before wheezing in laughter. Olivia and Jesse broke into laughter as well, and Amélie chuckled softly

“That has got to be the best joke I’ve ever heard!” Olivia laughed, leaning onto Jesse to prevent herself falling down, though Jesse was too busy laughing to really take note.

“Indeed, very… you,” Amélie said.

“You think I’m funny?” Lena asked, the admiration clear in her voice.

“Of course  _ chérie _ .” Amélie replied earnestly. “I am glad you invited me, this has been quite, enlightening.”

“Aww, how could I not? You’re the greatest Amélie!” Lena said, wrapping her arms around Amélie in a hug. Olivia half-expected the taller woman to resist the show of affection, but Amélie gently patted the woman’s back.

“Thank you Lena, but I have a feeling it's about time you turned in. You are very drunk.”

“Nah wait, can’t end the night yet. We need something. Something like…” Lena slurred as she thought. “... Pizza! We need pizza!”

“It’s a little late in the evening Lena. I really think you should go home”

Lena ignored Amélie’s warning, and made to stand up. “Winston, could you…” she managed, before falling to the ground, her legs failing her.

Everyone at the booth cried out in concern, and Amélie nearly jumped from her seat. “Lena, are you alright?!”

Lena pushed herself up on her elbows. “Maybe you’re right Ames.”

“Yes, I am. Now let me help you up.”

Amélie pulled Lena from the floor with surprising strength as Jesse and Olivia watched. Winston came out from behind the bar. “Do you need me to call a cab Lena?”

“No, that’s too expensive, plus you know I don’t live that far.”

“Yes, but I can’t close the bar yet, and I have no one else to cover me if I walked you home.”

“If it is not that far, I could walk ‘er home.” Amélie suggested.

“Are you sure?” Winston asked concerned. “You have been drinking too.“

“Please,” Amélie said with conviction, “I am French. It takes more than a bottle of mediocre wine to faze me.”

Winston considered this, before agreeing to the plan and helping Amélie lead Lena to the door, while giving the tall woman directions to Lena’s home.

* * *

 

Watching Amélie and Lena leave, Jesse couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Olivia pressed.

“Ah, jus’ watchin’ those two lovebirds. Figure Lena will ever take the plunge, ask out  _ azul _ ?”

Olivia observed the door that her two closest friends had gone through with a smile. “Lena will do it, she just needs the right push.”

“I becha Amélie’ll do it.”

Olivia turned to Jesse in shock. “No way  _ cabrón _ , Amé doesn’t even know Lena’s into her.”

Jesse bit down on his cheek to keep from laughing, knowing that Amélie did in fact know about Lena’s crush. “I think she knows more than she lets on, ‘sides, Lena doesn’t have the guts.”

Olivia felt offended on behalf of her friend. “Excuse me? Lena’s a strong woman. She’s nervous, but she’s got enough ‘guts’ to ask her out,” she paused. “More guts than you anyway.”

“Care to wager on it?” Jesse intoned.

Olivia leaned into the table. “Gladly. If Lena asks out Amélie, you have to...” She tapped her against the side of her face as she thought of a sufficient wager. Then, a devious smirk crossed her face. “... buy my coffee for a year.”

Jesse could have sworn he heard his wallet cry out in pain at the thought of it. But he wasn’t the kind of person to back down. “Alright, I’ll support your caffeine addiction if you win. But if I win, you gotta take me out on a date.”

Olivia visibly reeled. “You? You want me to…” she paused as she considered his words. “Don’t you mean you take me out on a date?”

“Are you kiddin’? I can barely afford my own food. Nah, you’re takin’ me out.”

She considered his gamble for a moment. She easily afforded her coffee as it was, but the prospect of getting Jesse to pay for it? The look on his face would be worth it. And, if she did lose, it was just one date, right?

“Plus it would be nice to get to know him better,” Olivia thought, or perhaps it was the tequila talking. Olivia hoped it was the tequila talking.

“Deal” she finally replied, reaching out to shake Jesse’s outstretched hand.

The rest of the night was spent in deep conversation, with Olivia finally understanding that Jesse was more than just a cowboy.

She still thought that the hat was stupid though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> McCree’s Neopets story inspired by Matt Mercer (https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/982456165761273857?lang=en)  
> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival
> 
> Hola (Spanish) - hello  
> Flirteador (Spanish) - flirter  
> Azul (Spanish) - blue  
> Chérie (French) - dear  
> Cabrón (Spanish) - donkey/ ass


	5. Café Doomfist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New competition opens up near Jack and Gabe’s, and Gabriel has devised a plan to get the scoop on this mysterious coffee shop.

Gabriel stood in front of his employees. He had heard, from Lena, that the group had gone out drinking the night before, and given Lena’s obvious hangover, it had been a good time. She had offered for Gabe and Jack to come with them, but Gabe had declined, as the two had had some planning to do.

“Alright, I’ve got some news.” Gabe announced.

“What is it?” Lena asked concerned. “Nothing bad right!? Don’t tell me you’re firing someone? Oh no, you and Jack aren’t getting divorced are you? Please don’t, I can’t work in a broken home, I’ll need therapy for years!”

“Lena, calm down! No one is getting fired!” Gabe assuaged. “And I appreciate your concern for my marriage, but we’re not getting divorced, we’re very happy.” Gabe watched Lena visibly calm, while Jesse and Amélie waited curiously. “No, the news is that the new coffee shop has opened a few doors down. Remember, Café Doomfist?”

“What a strange name. I do not understand these Americans,” Amélie murmured.

“I’m going to pretend you did not say that and move on,” Gabriel stated quietly. “Anyways, so this new place is going to put a damper on business for a while, but we need to know what we’re up against. So we need to send somebody in to investigate.”

Before Jesse could volunteer, Gabe had his eyes on Lena. “Since you look like you had a rough night, you can take this. Do I need to ask how much you drank last night?” When Lena sheepishly looked away, Gabriel only sighed and shook his head. “And Amélie, you can go with her.”

“Aw, come on boss, what about me?” Jesse lamented.

“One, because I need someone to watch over Lena who will not make things worse. And two, if I send both of them, they can go undercover as a couple on a date.”

“Buh?” Lena added intelligently.

“Well, if you say so boss,” Jesse smirked.

“Huh?!” Lena continued sagely.

“Alright so we’re agreed. Me and Jesse will watch the store, and Lena and Amélie will spy on Café Doomfist.” Gabriel said with purpose.

“Come  _ chérie _ ,” Amelie told Lena as she held near the door of the coffee shop, “you would not want to be late for our date, no?”

“Guh?” Lena theorized, as she followed Amélie outside.

Jesse waited until the two were past the large front window to speak again. “Now, we live in a town with coffee shops and cafes on e’ry corner, yet I ain’t ever seen you spy on any of ‘em. So why are we spyin’ on this one?”

Gabe huffed a laugh. “Got those two on a date of some kind, didn’t it, eh  _ sobrino _ ?”

“Ha! Guess so,  _ tío _ .”

* * *

 

As Lena and Amé lie made the short walk to the new cafe, Lena was flushed with embarrassment.

“Ames, we don’t have to pretend to be on a date if you don’t want to. I’m sure we can just go in and pretend to be customers…” Lena said nervously.

Am élie held back a smirk, enjoying watching Lena squirm. “Are you saying that you do not want to be seen on a date with me?”

“No no no!” Lena quickly sputtered, rapidly waving her hands in front of her. “I’d love to date you, I mean, not that we’re, it-it’s just pretend, ‘cause Gabe said to, and…”

Amélie could hardly keep from laughing at the smaller girls antics, but decided to keep up the facade, just to see how red she could turn the woman’s face. “So if we are on a date, surely we should hold hands?”

As Amélie expected, Lena’s face turned a bright red, as she tried to get a response out. “I, I mean, if you want to, you don’t have to…”

Amélie interrupted Lena’s rambling by grabbing her hand in her own and interlocking their fingers. “Come  _ chérie _ , we are here,” she said, gesturing with her free hand towards the door of Café Doomfist. She opened the door, and lightly pulled Lena into the store, also managing to pull the younger woman closer to herself.

Lena was as red as the morning sky, and her mind was racing. “Ohgod ohgod ohgod, she’s so close, her hand is so soft, and she smells so good, is that weird, fuckfuckfuck.”

“Cute,” Amélie thought.

* * *

 

By the time Olivia arrived at Jack & Gabe’s, Lena and Amélie were already out on their scouting mission.

“Hello there  _ vaquero,”  _ Olivia said as she entered.

“And howdy to you Miss Olivia,” Jesse replied with a tip of his hat.

“Well, I’m surprised to see you alive after last night. On that note, where are Lena and Amé? Lena was pretty messed up.”

“Out on a date right now,” Jesse chuckled.

Olivia suddenly lost her cool demeanor. “What?!” she exclaimed, “Who asked?!”

“Gabriel,” he replied, pointing a thumb at the man in question, who stood with his hands on his hips.

“ _ Que _ !?”

Gabriel let out a hearty laugh. “I told our little lovebirds to go spy on the competition, that new place just down the road.”

“And told ‘em to pretend to be a couple,” Jesse added.

Olivia seemed to consider this for a moment, before pointing a finger at Jesse. “This doesn’t count.” she announced.

_ “What’s this about?” _ Gabriel asked in his native tongue, surprising Olivia.

“You speak Spanish?”

Gabriel looked at Jesse a moment, then returned his gaze back to Olivia. “Yes?”

Olivia smiled.  _ “Me and Jesse made a bet that if Amélie asks Lena out, I have to take him out on a date.” _

_ “Is that so terrible?” _ Gabe replied.

_ “Oh, he’s not so bad I suppose, but I can’t take him seriously. I mean, look at that hat!”  _ she answered, then switched back to English. “But I believe in Lena!” And with that, she grabbed her order that Jesse had made and made her way to her regular table as Jesse and Gabe exchanged a look.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Lena and Amélie had sat down at a table at the competing coffee shop, each with a drink. Amélie took a sip of her drink while Lena blew on her own to cool it down. The decor around them was a mix of African art and portraits of boxers. The man behind the counter was a tall dark man with a deep voice and Kenyan accent. Amélie’s face scrunched up as she stared at the paper cup in her hands.

“I do not believe that man knows how to make a latte: this tastes like warmed milk.” she grimaced.

“And did you see the face he made when I asked for a hot chocolate?” Lena affirmed. “He looked like he wanted to throw me out of the store with his bare hands!”

“Though I cannot believe you came to a cafe and failed to order some kind of coffee.” Amélie replied with a smile, causing the blush that had faded to return to Lena’s face.

“I have a sweet tooth!” Lena defended hotly.

“I would never have guessed,” Amélie said flatly. “Though I suppose we have that in common.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m surprised you did not know that already.”

“Well, I suppose I don’t actually know that much about you love!” Lena replied earnestly.

“What would you like to know?”

Lena thought for a moment. “Well, what do you do for fun?”

“I used to dance, but I haven’t danced much since I was younger. I enjoy music, light rock and pop mostly. And I enjoy doing crafts and such, making things.”

“What kind of dancing do you do?”

“Ballet.”

“Wow. I’m sure you were a beautiful dancer,” Lena swooned, thinking of her long, thin form accentuated with the tutu, performing a pirouette..

“Thank you. But what are your interests  _ chérie _ ?”

“Well I’m more of punk rock girl, and I’m not much of a dancer. But do like clubbing when I can, there’s an LGBT club not far from where I live, and I go a couple times a month. I just like the people there, you know?”

“It is always good to be near people you relate to _ , _ ” Amélie agreed, taking a long drink of her latte.

“Speaking of people you relate to,” Lena segueyed, “how’s living with Jack and Gabe working out for ya?”

“They have been very kind to me, though I think it may be time I look for somewhere else to live. Those two are…” Amélie trailed off as she thought.

“Protective? Fussy? As bad as my nan Irene?” Lena offered.

“Well, I cannot say I know your grandmother, but they certainly enjoy acting like they are my real parents.”

“I know how that feels.” Lena sympathized. “I could see if there’s any openings in my flat. Rent’s cheap, and I could put in a good word with the landlord.” Amélie seemed to think on this a while, and Lena worried that she had said the wrong thing.

“Perhaps Lena, perhaps.” Amélie finally said, making Lena smile. She then drained the last of her drink. “I suppose it’s time we returned, no?”

Lena wished that her time with Amélie didn’t have to end, but Gabe would begin to worry. “Right,” she said, a hint of disappointment in her voice that Amélie didn’t miss. When the French woman offered her hand again, she barely even blushed as she took it and the two made there way out.

When they returned to Jack and Gabe’s they found that Jesse, Olivia and Gabe were all watching the pair intently. Lena tilted her head in confusion, before realizing that her hand was still in Amélie’s. Perhaps she forgot that they had been holding hands?

“So, what’s the news?” Gabe asked intently, not missing Olivia’s snicker behind him.

“Well, we don’t have to worry, love!” Lena replied, remembering the reason for the mission. “Drinks are bad and the service was rude. They won’t last!”

“Anything else happen?” Gabe asked.

Lena pulled her hand from Amélie’s to rub awkwardly at the back of her head. “No, nothing. The, uh, fake date thing worked, nobody suspected anything.”

As Lena began to make her way behind the counter, Amélie thought about how people found her oblivious. She had known what Gabriel had intended this venture to be from the start: he watched enough telenovelas, and was a big enough closeted romantic, that he likely thought that sending Lena and herself on this “investigation” would spark something. Amélie had gone along with the plan, knowing what she did about Lena’s feelings for her, hoping that perhaps she might learn more about the woman. And what she found was a funny, upbeat and adorable person whom Amélie would like to spend more time with.

Apparently Lena wouldn’t be taking the first step. And for this, there was only one solution.

“Lena?” she said suddenly.

“Yes love?” Lena replied curiously.

“Did you enjoy our little date?” Amélie asked, not missing Gabe’s widening eyes and a growing grin.

Lena blushed for what felt like the thousandth time that day. “Well, yeah…”

Amélie grinned at her, and Lena suddenly felt like she was a rabbit, staring down the eyes of a hungry coyote. No, like a fly, caught in a spider’s web. “Well then, would you perhaps like to do this again sometime?”

Lena’s mouth dropped and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “Are you...?”

“Though, without the false pretense would be good.” Amélie added.

Lena didn’t speak for sometime, as everyone in the room stared at Lena, including the couple of customers sitting around enjoying their drinks: it seems that even bystanders were curious.

“Psst, Lena,” Olivia stage-whispered. “You might want to answer.”

“Oh! Uh, yeah. I-I mean, yes, I’d l-l-love to!” Lena stuttered out nervously.

There was a cheer as most everyone in the cafe clapped and whistled. Now Amélie returned the favour and blushed.

Olivia smiled. She did feel happy for her friends. But when she saw Jesse’s shit-eating grin, her face dropped and she remembered.

“ _ Mierda. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival
> 
> Sobrino (Spanish) - nephew  
> Tío (Spanish) - uncle  
> Vaquero (Spanish) - cowboy  
> Que (Spanish) - what  
> Mierda (spanish) - shit


End file.
